


Paper Planes

by overunderachiever



Series: Soulmate September 2020 [20]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kissing, Light Angst, Long-Distance Relationship, Love Letters, M/M, any letter you send your soulmate will reach them, controlling parents, even if its a paper aeroplane, only referenced and not in great detail, sympathetic characters all round, these boys are very romantic, yeah I couldn't think of anything for the prompt so I changed it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:55:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26525587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overunderachiever/pseuds/overunderachiever
Summary: Janus and Roman have been writing to each other for years, sending their love letters as paper aeroplanes so Roman could hide it from his parents. Janus has had to watch from afar while Roman is put through hell, and what little support he can give is nearly not enough. But now he is finally able to do something about it.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Series: Soulmate September 2020 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872199
Comments: 16
Kudos: 96





	Paper Planes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yeah the summary has some sinister undertones if you read it a certain way but this is meant to be completely wholesome and romantic. I'm sorry, I'm just not great at writing the roceit dynamic without it looking manipulative from some angles. Also I just find Janus difficult to write in general without him being OTT.

_Hello soulmate,_

_My name is Roman._

_How are you? Please send a reply soon, I am very excited to know you._

Roman re-read the short letter over again once more, double checking for spelling mistakes. He was very proud of his handwriting and his teacher had only had to trace out a few words for him!

When he was sure it was perfect, he started to fold the paper, as carefully as possible. It would be no good to ruin the letter by having messy folding, and he wanted it to be beautiful for his soulmate.

Finally, Roman sat back to admire his handiwork. He'd decorated the wings of the plane with little drawings that he thought it looked amazing, and he hoped his soulmate would think like them too.

The teacher led the class out to the playground, told them all to find some space, and to face any direction they wanted - it didn't really matter because the paper planes were sure to reach their thrower's soulmate no matter where you were, how hard you threw it, or how well it was made.

Roman found a corner of the playground and concentrated very _very_ hard on wanting the plane to reach his soulmate. He'd overheard some of the other kids saying that if you didn't concentrate enough then it wouldn't work, and Roman didn't want to take any chances.

Across the playground the teacher called out to throw when they were ready. Roman took a few deep breaths, drew his arm back, and _threw_ it as hard as he could. For a moment the paper plane wobbled in the air and looked like it might fall back to earth, then an invisible breeze caught it and it began to fly properly, taking off over the school buildings and up into the clouds.

Roman watched the piece of folded paper, his first letter to his soulmate, as it bobbed and ducked through the air until it was completely out of sight.

\-----

_Hello Roman_

_My name is Janus._

_Thank you for your letter. I am well. How are you?_

Janus glared at the letter he had 'written'. It was very boring and Roman would probably think so too, but that was what his teacher had told him to say and he didn't know how to write much else.

Janus sighed. He hated being treated like a little kid who didn't know anything, he was six years old for god's sake! He had read all the books in the book box, on his own, but the teacher still wouldn't let him get longer ones, and now this! He supposed he would just have to hope Roman wouldn't care that much.

He folded the paper into an aeroplane shape, ignoring the instruction paper he'd been given and instead using a much better method that made it look more like a proper plane. When the teacher came over and asked why he wasn't doing what he was told, Janus just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah the way you fold the paper _totally_ has an effect on whether it'll get to your soulmate. I'm not stupid, I know how this works. And this way looks better anyway."

The teacher just sighed and moved on to supervising the kids that actually needed help.

When the class went outside to send off the paper planes, Janus was proud to see that his flew the best, not even faltering as it sailed into the sky and away. He watched it go with pride and nervousness until he couldn't see it anymore.

\--Many years later--

_My dearest Janus,_

_I apologise for taking so long to reply (I know you don't like me apologising but I feel I have to, it has been over a month after all) but I have only just been able to get out of the house long enough to write this. If my writing is a little messy its because I am writing this on the bus because if I stop at a cafe or the library my parents are sure to know what I am up to._

_Thank you so much for your reassurances in your previous letter, I feel I am in a much better place now. I would complain at the aggressiveness of how you told me it was important to love myself but to be honest I think we both know how much I needed to hear that._

_My seventeenth birthday has come and gone (though you must already know that) and your poem was the most wonderful part of it by a long shot. You are so incredibly talented! It was so romantic, darling, I think my heart almost burst out of my chest with longing to be with you._

_Also, your idea of having a smaller, sealed letter labelled "open on your birthday" inside the paper plane was marvellous! I don't know why I haven't thought of that before! I hope you don't mind but I copied your idea to send you your birthday present. I know it is a little early to be thinking about your eighteenth birthday now, but this is just in case I really cannot write again before then._

_I think my parents are starting to realise it's not long before I will be able to escape their clutches, for they are restricting me even more. When applying to colleges, I filled out extra forms for several drama courses and posted them in secret with the applications for law that they made me fill out._

_I do not know what else they will do before I turn eighteen. And I do not know how I would have kept any semblance of my own free will if it hadn't been for you always being there for me. It's still hard to believe I am really worth anything at all, but your letters are helping so much._

_I know you tell me not to thank you but I feel I should. You didn't have to do any of this for me but you have been my rock in the stormy sea of uncertainty all my life._

_Yours forever,_

_Roman_

_\-----_

_My darling Roman,_

_I have said it before and I will say it again: if you ever apologise for something that is the fault of those bastards that call themself your parents, or thank me for doing what any decent human being would do, I will personally lock you in a spa until you are both fully relaxed_ _and_ _admit that you are worth everything I have ever done. I am relieved you are in a better place now and I wish I could make you promise me to tell me whenever you are feeling that way, but I know that is simply not possible._

_I am glad you liked the poem. Any merit it has, of course, is_ _completely_ _to do with talent I was born with, and_ _absolutely not_ _because I agonised over it for months. Not at_ _all_ _._

_Your present to me is tucked away somewhere safe and I can hardly wait to see it. Honestly, I am amazed you were ever able to write something with your sperm and egg donors being the abysmal people they are, and I seriously hope you did not put yourself in any danger in doing so. You know I am not worth you getting hurt._

_Hold on tight, love, and never give up hope. I promise you I will be here for you whenever you need me, to shower you with all the aggressive love you deserve. I have been hesitant to say this before but now I think I can be sure when I say it will not be long before we are together. And then we will both be free._

_Yours forever,_

_Janus_

_\-----_

The paper plane sailed over the sailed over the rooftops, heading somewhere West. Janus had no idea how far he had to go before he found his soulmate but it couldn't be much longer now he was at least in Roman's state.

They'd talked about this years ago. When Janus first worked out just how awful Roman's so-called parents were to him, he'd vowed he would get Roman out as soon as he could. His soulmate had insisted it was fine, that Janus didn't need to make so much effort just for him, but Janus had told him the only thing that would stop him from trying to find Roman was if Roman explicitly told him he didn't want him to come. Roman had said that as long as Janus wasn't simply feeling obliged to rescue him then he wouldn't mind, and Janus had been planning this trip ever since.

Janus knew what city Roman was in, but that was all his soulmate had ever gotten round to telling him. His last letter had been the one he'd sent three months before Janus' eighteenth birthday, and there had been nothing since. Not even a brief note reassuring Janus that he was ok.

And that terrified him

So he'd put his plan into action earlier than he'd thought he would, aiming to arrive as close to Roman's eighteenth birthday as possible, instead of after high school. He'd already enrolled himself in a high school in Roman's city for so he could finish his own education, and would be making sure Roman did too. He'd gathered his savings, packed up his car, and started driving, determination and love spurring him onwards.

Was it right to say he loved Roman despite never having met him? Perhaps not. But he was damn-near close to it, and from the tone of Roman's last letter he was sure his soulmate felt the same.

So for most of that day Janus had been throwing paper aeroplanes, following them as far as he could, throwing another and repeating the process. It was evening now, the time that Roman had once called 'golden hour', and Janus could just _feel_ that he was close.

He grabbed the single red rose from where it rested on the passenger seat, and quickly taped it to his last plane. Then he held it out the open car window and threw it, quick to follow, hoping, praying, this time he would finally know Roman was safe.

\-----

Roman stifled a laugh of triumph as he finally got his window unlocked. Folded paper had been hitting into it and falling to the ground for the past hour and Roman had spent most of that time trying to pick the lock on his window. Luckily, his parents were out or he didn't know what would have happened to him by now, but he didn't want to risk them finding him there, paper scattered under his bedroom window.

As he flung the window open, another plane sailed through, landing right in his hands. This one had a beautiful red rose on it that Roman would normally have stopped to marvel at but now wasn't the time. He unfolded the paper as quickly as he could, desperate for some instruction from Janus as to what to do to come find him - for surely the onslaught of paper must mean his soulmate was finally coming.

But it was blank.

Roman rushed to the window again and his heart almost stopped.

There, parked on the opposite side of the road, right in front of his window, was an incredibly beat up car, and leaning on the bonnet was the most handsome young man he'd ever seen.

He must only have been a few months older than Roman himself, who'd just turned eighteen, barely old enough to be called a man at all. His yellow shirt and black pants so perfectly crisp and smart, hugging his body in just the right way to make Roman's heart pound even harder, and the sun was setting behind him making his hair glow.

He was smiling a wonderfully crooked smile that would have been considered a smirk if there had been even a hint of malice behind those glittering eyes. But his expression only held unwavering love and affection, and relief at seeing Roman safe.

Roman held the rose in one hand, raising it to his nose to breathe in the heady scent, then took the paper plane in the other and threw it into the air with as much grace as he could muster. The man in the street didn't move except to raise a hand as the plane landed right on his palm.

Roman couldn't hold back any longer. He let out a whoop of laughter, rushing down stairs and throwing himself out the front door, tearing across the street, right into the arms of his waiting soulmate.

For who knew how long, Janus and Roman just gripped each other tight, muffling their sobs into the other's hair, kissing and kissing over and over again like the world would end if they stopped.

Only once the tears had calmed and their breathing slowed did they get into the car. The sun was disappearing below the horizon and the first evening stars were just appearing in the sky as they drove away, into their new lives and to freedom.

~~*~~

**Author's Note:**

> Another one where I had a really pretty image in my head and I don't think I expressed it well enough.
> 
> Anyway thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
